


Through A Lense

by AU_Queen



Category: RWBY
Genre: Cardin is kinda creepy, Fluff, I have never done photography in my life, In a way, M/M, Photographer AU, but i think i did well, dog walker au, dog! team RWBY, dog!Penny, sorta - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-22
Updated: 2018-01-22
Packaged: 2019-03-08 05:08:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13451205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AU_Queen/pseuds/AU_Queen
Summary: Just an AU in which Cardin is a photographer, Jaune is clueless, Pyrrha returns from a long trip, and team RWBY are dogs.





	Through A Lense

Everyday he would visit this park to take pictures. The light almost always flowed nicely here and there were plenty of flowers, trees, people, and animals throughout the park at different times. During the night you could see the stars and moon clearly. There was even a spot encircled in trees where on some nights you could look up and see the full moon framed by dark green leaves.

That was why Cardin came here so often. Because he was a self-taught photographer who wanted to practice more. Not because he had often spotted this blonde haired dog walker multiple times. Definitely not. Okay, mostly not. At least not at first.

At first it truly was just the natural beauty of the park that drew him here. It still was, if not only partly. But the more he came to the park the more he noticed the blonde haired boy. Often he would come here to walk four dogs, sometimes he would come alone, either way he would see him here most days. His camera found him often. Back home, there was two albums full of the pictures he had taken in this park. More than half the pictures in it contained him. An embarrassing fact Cardin would never let anyone know.

He paused with the camera up at his eye, trained on the blonde haired boy and the four dogs. Sun glanced off his hair, making it lighter than it truly was. The large yellow lab was trying to pull him along, and frankly it was succeeding. Behind him a white eskimo dog sat with it’s nose in the air as a red corgi sniffed and jumped at it. Always the calmest of the four, a black terrier stood silently next to him. Sometimes that terrier confused Cardin. At times it would act so much like a cat he thought that it had been one in a former life; at other times he was certain the terrier knew exactly what he was doing. Like now. The terrier was looking straight at him through the lense of his camera, and he was sure of it. As always it made him blink, and he put his camera down to rub at his eyes a moment. When he put the camera back up, the dog had turned away. With a click he took the shot.

 

~~~~

 

The boy was there when he returned the next day. Of course he was. He seemed to always be here. But there were no dogs this time.

A covering of clouds had the sun obscured today. With a smile Cardin lifted the camera to his eye. Took a picture of purple flowers near the creek that ran along the edge of the park. Caught a young couple in the middle of a tender kiss. Then he turned it to the boy. The cloud covering ensured his bright blue eyes would be darker. He smiled and zoomed in till just his eyes where in the lense. Took the shot.

 

~~~~

 

It was a chilly fall day when he saw him again. Stuff had came up and Cardin hadn’t been able to come to the park for a week. But he was glad when he got there, because the boy was alone again. While it was always nice to capture him with the dogs, Cardin loved to get him on his own. The dogs always seemed to distract him. Between the corgi and lab he was pulled along for the whole walk. On days when he was alone, he seemed to like to take it slow. Stare at the sky. Look at the flowers. Just breathe. Often Cardin caught himself wondering what he was thinking about as he watched him through the lense.

The boy bent down to pick a flower and Cardin saw his hoodie ride up just the slightest amount. It was one the boy wore often. The dark blue fabric matched his eyes nicely in Cardin’s opinion, even if the cartoonish bunny face on the front of it made him want to laugh. He took the shot.

 

~~~~

 

This day was colder than the last. Cardin had to wear gloves just to be sure his hands wouldn’t freeze on the cool metal of his camera. The boy walked in through the wrought iron gate at the entrance of the park, led by the four dogs. He had his hoodie on and a light brown beanie covered his mop of blonde hair.

Almost immediately after Cardin lifted the camera to his eye, the corgi took off. The boy stumbled forward and laughed before he ran with it as it pulled him along with the leash. Cardin didn’t even need to look to know that the corgi had caught sight of another corgi, this one orange. They must have been great friends, Cardin mused, since that seemed to happen everytime it spotted the other corgi. He watched for a moment as the two dogs sniffed at eachothers butts before they jumped around each other. The boy stood close by, leashes still wrapped up tight around his hand. He was bent over slightly with his hands pushed into his knees. His chest heaved as he struggled to catch his breath.

The button almost stuck when he took the shot.

 

~~~~

 

When Cardin arrived the next day, the boy was sat on the rock wall that encircled a fountain in the middle of the park. Cardin took a picture of an empty bench with green paint that was peeling off to reveal the dark wood underneath. He had been meaning to get this picture for months, but had always gotten too distracted. Then he turned the camera on the boy. His feet were up, the soles of his shoes facing Cardin. With a movement of his hand, he zoomed in on them. Smiled when he noticed they had ‘left’ and ‘right’ written on them, like the boy forgot often enough that he felt he needed directions just to be sure he had them correct. Held back a chuckle at the thought. Steadied the camera and took the shot.

 

~~~~

 

It had been a few days since Cardin last saw him. Since the days were getting colder, fall slowly transitioning into winter, he had been able to capture grass and flowers covered by frost. He was especially glad that he had gotten the pictures before anyone had trampled the spots.

A familiar bark drew Cardin’s attention and he turned away from the creek. His camera had been focused on a spot where a very thin layer of ice had formed next to a small circle of rocks that prevented water from flowing in the middle of them. Before he had fully realized it, he had snapped the picture and turned his camera on the boy. Each of the dogs wore a sweater. The eskimo dog a fancy light blue one, the corgi a black one with what he swore had a small cape sewed to it, the lab had a light orange one, and the terrier had a deep purple one. A long yellow shirt poked out from under the boy’s hoodie and he wore brown gloves that matched his beanie. Cardin watched as a shiver visibly ran down his spine when a brisk wind blew. Took the shot as the boy scrunched his shoulders up to his ears.

 

~~~~

 

Just two weeks more until fall was over and it was officially winter. Cardin had his camera trained on the boy and the dogs as they walked the park. Each were in their sweaters. He knew they would be until winter had come and gone.

The day had been slightly odd since Cardin arrived at the park. He had snapped a picture of geese sitting in the creek. One of a girl sitting on one of the benches, a hot drink held between two gloved hands and the smoke swirling from it forming a barrier between her and the rest of the world. These weren’t odd things at this time of year. They weren’t, but Cardin couldn’t shake the feeling that something odd was going to happen. So the whole day had felt odd up till now.

He moved the camera to the boy. His cheeks were flushed with the cold. He was biting at his lower lip. The dogs pulled him like they always did, but there was something about how he followed them absently. Cardin wondered what had him so distracted. Didn’t have to wonder long.

“Oh my dust, you’re back! You’re actually back!” the boy turned around and yelled at someone behind Cardin. For a second Cardin just stared, before he moved the camera’s focus to a cluster of trees slightly behind and to the left of the boy. Held his breath as the boy ran past him. Hoped to everything he hadn’t been noticed in the moments it took him to look away. This wasn’t the first time he had heard his voice. Nor the first time he had seen the boy’s blue eyes light up like that. But it didn’t stop it from having a breathtaking, mind-numbing effect on him. After a moment he allowed himself to look back at the boy. His arms was around a girl who had long red hair flowing out of the golden beanie she wore. A brown jacket covered her arms and green fingerless gloves were on her hands. Sudden disappointment filled him. They wrapped their arms around each other as the dogs just started. It was obvious the dogs knew her. Even more obvious that there was something there between them. With how beautiful he was and how perfect she looked, it would be impossible for there not to be something.

He watched the two embrace a moment longer before he unconsciously lifted his camera to his eye and took the shot.

 

~~~~

 

She was there with him the next day. Just the two of them. They walked side by side and Cardin tried not to watch, but the boy’s smile had a way of just drawing him in. Even when he didn’t want it to. Though, he never knew that there would be a day he didn’t want that. He saw through the lense of his camera as the girl laughed at some joke he told her. Saw him flash another smile, this one proud, before he was able to tear himself from them.

A picture of the sky, clouds covering the sun in that perfect way that had the boy’s eyes darkening just slightly. The same cluster of trees he had repositioned his camera to just yesterday when she had appeared. He hadn’t gotten the picture of them then, so he took it now. Water still spouted from the fountain, so he took a picture of that as well. Another picture while he stood on the wall with his camera pointed down so he could see the coins shimmering under the reflection of the clouds in the water.

He was still standing there when the boy’s laugh drew his attention back to him. The girl walked backwards in front of him as they talked. She had her hands clasped behind her back. His hands were tucked inside his jean pockets and his shoulders shook with his laughter. In a moment the girl had caused them both to stop. Watched as the boy tilted his head in confusion. Hands left his pockets when hers reached toward him. With a quick move she had his hood down over his face and had pulled the drawstrings tight, closing it so only his nose and a few wisps of blonde hair stuck out through the hole. Cardin smiled sadly. Took the shot.

It wasn’t something he did often, but on a whim he took the camera away from his face. Pulled up the picture he had just taken. The girl’s back was to him in the photo, and for that he was strangely glad. Then just as he went to place the camera back to his eye so he could find something else to capture, his foot slipped on the damp surface of the stone wall. He couldn’t get his footing back. Only really had the time to, as gently as possible, throw his camera into the grass before he had splashed into the water behind him. He sent up a prayer of thanks that he never used the strap that had come with the camera. If he had, he wouldn’t have been able to quickly save it from the damage the water would have caused.

With a sigh he blew his previously gelled hair away from his eyes and swept his hand down his dripping face. Got his knees under him. Rubbed his now sore butt before he blinked in surprise. A gloved hand had stuck itself right under his nose. The glove was a brown he recognized as much as the dark blue sleeve that partly slid over it. He gulped as he took it. Looked up to see the boy’s worried face. It was oh, so close to his for a moment before the boy had pulled him up and helped him out of the fountain.

“Are you okay?” he asked Cardin and it took a moment for him to realize that yes, he was talking to him. He blinked the water out of his eyes. Almost answered before the girl interrupted.

“Is this yours?” she said, and somehow he had forgotten she was there. He blamed the close proximity to the blonde haired boy. She had his camera in her hands. Her gaze was on the little screen, and he knew she was staring at the last picture he had taken.

“Uh, yeah.” He reached for it, but she had moved away from him. Was showing it to the boy. “Give that back.”

“This is really good,” they had both looked back at him, the words falling easily from both their mouths. Somehow it sounded sweeter coming from the boy.

“Thank you.” The words were quick as Cardin just about ripped the camera back. He had it clutched to his chest before he thought about it.

“I’ve seen you before,” the boy said with his eyes squinted at Cardin.

“No,” Cardin said with a frown and another nervous swallow.

“Yeah! Pyrrha, this is the guy I told you about. The one who takes all the pictures around the park.” He turned back to his redheaded friend. Cardin didn’t miss the smile he had on his face as he spoke.

“Really?” the girl- Pyrrha- asked with wide eyes before she turned to him with waiting for any confirmation. “You must have so many cool pictures. Can we see them?”

“I don’t-” Cardin began, his mind flickering over all the pictures of the blonde boy that filled his albums of the park.

“Please? It would be so cool,” the boy said and his voice was so… awed, that Cardin couldn’t stop himself. He agreed before he was even fully aware of what he was saying.

 

He led them back to his small house. It was within walking distance of the park, which was part of the original appeal of taking pictures there.

His house was a light brown colour. The shingles were red and the door was an off-white. It fit in well with the rest of the houses around it. On the outside, at least. Only one of the rooms on the inside had been repainted from the forest green colour the original owners had it two years ago. It was weird to think he had moved here just two years ago. Two years, and two albums of pictures. In the time it had taken them to walk there he had learned the boy’s name and both of them now knew his. It was more than he ever thought would happen. And still more was in progress as he took them to the room next to his dark room. The room that held the many albums of pictures he had taken in his twenty five years of life.

The boy and girl, he now knew were Jaune and Pyrrha, sat down on the one couch in the room. It didn’t take him long to grab the two albums and shove them at the two before he retreated to hide in his dark room. When the door closed behind him, he leaned against it and let out a breath. One he didn’t realize he was holding. He hoped the process of developing the pictures he was able to take would distract him from what was happening just outside that door. It didn’t.

 

All was silent for a good twenty minutes before a knock at the door of the room he was in startled him. Taking a steading breath, he paused what he was doing and went to open the door. Jaune stood outside it. Cardin looked past him to see where Pyrrha was, but he couldn’t see her in the room he had left them. When he refocused on Jaune he noticed the albums in his hands and the blush that sat high on his cheekbones. He ignored both.

“Where’s Pyrrha?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

“She said she had to go… do stuff,” Jaune said, and for some reason his cheeks seemed to darken.

“Okay.” Cardin gathered the albums from Jaune’s stiff arms and pushed past him to put them away.

“You’re a really talented photographer,” Jaune said from behind him and he grunted in response. Went to go back to his dark room without another word. “Cardin-” A hand on his arm stopped him. He looked back at Jaune, his blue eyes were shining, before he turned away. Shook the hand off.

“Look, it’s creepy. I know. If you want me to stop, I will,” Cardin breathed the words through clenched teeth. He really didn’t want to stop taking the pictures of Jaune. He was so beautiful, the way the sun would shine on his hair, his eyes would darken without the sun’s influence, or joy would cause his eyes to sparkled and a smile to just slightly dimple his cheeks.

“No,” Jaune said the word quickly, a little too loud, “No,” he repeated it, quieter this time. “The photos are so good.” Cardin had turned back to him in surprise and he could feel his breath hitch a bit when Jaune just barely looked up at him, his eyes shining from under his lashes. “You make me look beautiful.”

Cardin could feel his heart slam to a stop before it sped back up. A violent blush reached his face, down his neck and up his ears, he just knew it. How was he supposed to respond to that?

“Am I really that beautiful?” Jaune fully looked at him now, the question coming out as a whisper.

“Yes,” Cardin breathed the word without thinking about it. It seemed like he did a lot of things without thinking when it came to this boy. But it was worth it, all of it, when Jaune beamed at him with that smile. That smiled he had captured as many times as he could. That smile that caused little dimples to form at the corners of his mouth. A smile that immediately lit up the room. He couldn’t help but be happy that he had caused that smile. “Would you like to get coffee or something with me?”

“Make it hot chocolate and we got a deal,” Jaune’s smile hadn’t stopped, but with his answer it became cheeky. Smug. And Cardin couldn’t stop the laugh that rumbled out as he nodded before Jaune led him away from his house and to the coffee shop closest to them.


End file.
